At Least Two Minutes

May 22, 2017

The Morning Heresy is your daily digest of news and links relevant to the secular and skeptic communities.

Trump goes to Saudi Arabia, probably to pick up some tips on theocratic oppression. He gave a speech, and notably did not use the phrase "radical Islamic terrorism," which we are told will solve All World Problems when uttered by someone in power, so I dunno why he omitted it. Oh and we're going to sell them $110 billion in weapons, which I'm sure the Saudis will put to use in a way we can all be proud.

He also said, "Terrorists do not worship God, they worship death," which I don't think are mutually exclusive, but what do I know? I'm not the president or anything.

I make a point of almost never linking to The Daily Caller, the outlet started by the loathsome Tucker Carlson. But look at this: Daily Caller reporter Chuck Ross calls out Newt Gingrich for amplifying the false conspiracy theory about murdered DNC staffer Seth Rich. Tip o'the hat to you, Mr. Ross.

Speaking of conspiracy theories, Zack Beauchamp at Vox looks why the left has started to fall for its own cock-and-bull stories.

The basic thing you need to understand, these [political science] scholars say, is that political misinformation in America comes principally from partisanship. People’s political identities are formed around membership in one of two tribes, Democratic or Republican. This filters the way they see the world.

You may have heard that Arctic flooding breached the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which is supposed to keep our food supply going in case of disaster. Luckily, no seeds were destroyed, but now we know that this is not an impenetrable fortress when it's Mother Nature trying to get in.

Our family has long believed that non-matchings [sic] socks and gloves keep you just as warm. This is a belief shared by scientist Richard Dawkins who apparently believes life’s too short to find socks that match. Quite right. Just think of the time he must save.

Matthew Archbold at the National Catholic Register has eight reasons why Christianity is "cooler" than atheism. Among them is that we have Daniel Radcliffe and not Michelangelo (artist, not turtle), and that atheists "have less children." I think it's supposed to be "fewer," but hey! They're being cooler!

Freddie deBoer has an interesting post about how one's hostility toward "angry atheists" and/or conservative Christians varies depending on context. DeBoer, an atheist himself, used to rail against the "angry" atheists, he says. But now?

...I had moved to Indiana and was suddenly steeped in a culture rife with conservative Christians. I found myself more and more annoyed by secular liberal who would say “angry atheists are just as bad as conservative Christians!” Because that isn’t true. Angry atheists are annoying; conservative Christians are an organized and powerful political bloc that has powered some of the worst conditions in American political life in years. Those things are not the same. But angry atheists exist in the discursive space of those liberals, and conservative Christians do not, and so those arguments become attractive. Because one must define him or herself in a social context through contrast with others, and in the progressive world there is more to gained by contrasting yourself with a follower of Sam Harris than with a follower of Rick Warren.

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Linking to a story or webpage does not imply endorsement by Paul or CFI. Not every use of quotation marks is ironic or sarcastic, but it often is.

News items that mention political​ candidates are for informational purposes only and under no circumstances are to be interpreted as statements of endorsement or opposition to any political candidate. CFI is a nonpartisan nonprofit.

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Paul Fidalgo has been communications director of the Center for Inquiry since 2012. He holds a master’s degree in political management from George Washington University, and has worked previously for FairVote: The Center for Voting and Democracy and the Secular Coalition for America. Paul is also an actor and musician whose work includes five years performing with the American Shakespeare Center. He lives in Maine with his wife and kids. His blog is Near-Earth Object, and he tweets at @paulfidalgo.